Certificates of Advanced Study

Upskill and Differentiate Yourself in a Competitive Job Market

Through a flexible certificate programs, you can expand your technical expertise with highly marketable skills and enter a new field where hiring is strong and experts like you are in demand. There are a number of ways you can take the next step in your career with a certificate program. 

  • Supplement your master’s degree with targeted electives aligned with one of our four certificate programs.
  • Start your journey at the iSchool with a certificate program, and in as few as six months add new technical skills to your resume. 
  • Upon completing a certificate program, apply your credits towards a master’s degree to continue to upskill and advance your career.

Certificate of advanced study programs include:

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Certificate of Advanced Study in Library Media

The CAS in School Media is a 21-credit certificate program for those who already possess an accredited master’s degree in library and information science and want certification as a school library media specialist.

Students must first undergo a thorough review of their graduate library science degree transcript to determine if the core graduate and undergraduate course requirements have been fulfilled. If all requirements have not been met, additional courses will be required.

While this program is designed to enable students to meet the requirements to qualify for a New York State Certification, students may also be eligible for certification in other states outside of New York. Certification requirements including, but not limited to, teaching credentials and experience may differ from state to state. Therefore, a student enrolling in this program should research the requirements in the state in which they reside or intend to practice.

Coursework:

Required Core Coursework – 18 credits

Exit Requirements – 3 Credits

Students must complete 480 hours of fully supervised and evaluated school-based library experiences at the elementary and secondary levels (240 hours each). Those with a teaching degree can complete 50 hours at either elementary or secondary. 

Students with a minimum of one academic year of work experience in a school librarian capacity may be exempt from IST 972: School Media Practicum. A petition is required for approval.

  • IST 972: School Media Practicum (waived if working minimum one academic year in school library)

Electives – 3 credits

Students allowed to substitute for one of the above courses must choose one course from the list below for 3 credits. 
Approved courses from School of Education examples: RED 512: Children’s and Adolescent Literature 

Others with program director approval

Fieldwork: 100 hours total

School library media students must complete a total of 100 (non-credit) hours of fieldwork in elementary and secondary school libraries before their first practicum experience. A minimum of 15 of the 100 clock hours of field experience must include a focus on learning differentiation.

It is the student’s responsibility to document all fieldwork and submit documentation at the time of certification. This documentation is done by filing a Learning Agreement and a Record of Fieldwork form for each site where fieldwork is completed. Hours completed prior to approval of the Learning Agreement will not be counted.

Additional Requirements for NYS School Library Media Specialist Certification 

Students must complete the school media competencies checklist at the following times: 

  • The beginning of the program 
  • After the second fieldwork experience 
  • After their first practicum experience, and 
  • After all coursework, fieldwork and practica have been completed. 

This instrument is used as a means for documenting student growth and as a guide for fieldwork and practicum placement.

Completing the School Media Program plus the requirements below qualifies students for certification as a School Library Media Specialist in New York State elementary or secondary schools. 

Required for Certification: 

  • Three workshops that must be completed through approved training hours or coursework. Verification must be posted to TEACH if done externally. More information: Workshops Required for Educator Certification: Submitting Documents: Certification: OTI:NYSED 
    • Child Abuse Identification and Reporting Workshop 
    • Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) Workshop 
    • School Violence Prevention and Intervention Workshop 
  • Four Child Safety Milestone Workshops 
    • Alcohol/Drug/Tobacco Prevention 
    • Child Abduction Prevention 
    • Fire and Arson Prevention 
    • Highway/General Safety 
  • NYS certification exams* 
  • Fingerprint clearance* 

*May be completed after graduation

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